The treatise, written by the secretary of the Polish king Sigismund II Augustus, diplomat and Lithuanian humanist Wenceslav Mikolaevich, is permeated with anxiety for the fate of Lithuania. The author proposes numerous reforms in the field of legal proceedings, culture and everyday life, modeled on the order he idealized in the Russian state and the Crimean Khanate. The legend of the “Roman origin” of the Lithuanians had a strong impact on the formation of the mentality of the Lithuanian nation. The book uses design elements from the first edition of the treatise (1615) as headpieces and endings. For a wide range of readers.

Contents: Preface (A. L. Khoroshkevich) Mikhalon Litvin and his treatise (M. V. Dmitriev, I. P. Starostina, A. L. Khoroshkevich) From the translator (V. I. Matuzov) Johann Jacob Grasser. To His Excellency Octavian Alexander, Prince Pronsky, Lord of Berestechok and Ryazan, etc., to my most gracious master Mikhalon Litvin on the morals of the Tatars, Lithuanians and Muscovites, ten fragments containing various stories. Comments (S. V. Dumin, Yu. A. Mytsyk, Ya. P. Starostina, M. A. Usmanov, A. L. Khoroshkevich) BibliographyList of abbreviations